


Scars

by Masterweaver



Category: Zombieland Saga (Anime)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-08-05 16:41:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16371281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Masterweaver/pseuds/Masterweaver
Summary: While taking time to relax, the girls decide to share some rather personal stories.It's not like anybody else would understand, after all.





	Scars

"How did you convince Kotaro-san to let us go to the hot springs?"

Sakura shrugged awkwardly. "I don't know, really... I let Tae-chan do the talking."

Ai blinked at her for a moment. Her gaze turned to the vapid stare of the tall woman currently munching on a towel. Then she looked back at Sakura suspiciously.

"It's true!" Sakura insisted. "Kotaro-san was against it until she spoke up!"

"Really? What did she say?"

"Well... I think it was 'raaaaaaa mmmmngh,' but it could have been 'rrrrrrrr mnaaaaagh.' She had a tissue box in her mouth at the time--"

"Point is, we're here," Saki said, throwing her jacket off. "We've worked hard and we deserve a chance to relax. And let's be honest, we probably need a good soak."

"...but we're zombies," Junko murmured. "We don't actually sweat."

Saki completely failed to hear her protest, stripping down to her bandages and jumping into the warm water. "Oooooh, yeah. It's been a while."

"A decade or two," Sakura agreed, unbuttoning her shirt.

Yugiri casually shed her clothes and hung them from the rack. "It feels as though it has been over a century, personally."

"Well, I suppose for you it..." Junko's eyes drifted toward Yugiri's chest and she trailed off for a moment.

Saki snorted in amusement. "What's the matter, Junko, dead people turn you on?"

"Saki!" she cried, scandalized. "You can't say things like that!"

Lily nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we're not vampires!"

"...What? What does that have to do with--?"

Ai put a hand on Junko's shoulder. "Trust me on this, you really don't want to know."

Yugiri rolled her eyes, sidling into the pool gently. "I assume this is another aspect of the modern world of which I am unaware...?"

"Let's just say that... paranormal romance has become a popular and profitable genre recently," Ai explained, awkwardly biting her lip.

A low moan caught Sakura's attention, and she gasped when she spotted Tae tugging her arm off. "Tae-chan! No, wait, that's not how you take off clothes!" She put her skirt on the rack and rushed over to the tall zombie, grabbing her hands.

"Hey shrimpy, you want to help Sakura out or what?"

Lily put her hands on her hips. "My name is not Shrimpy! And Tae-chan is big, what am I supposed to do?"

"Eh, good point." Saki took in the others for a moment. "Ai, maybe you should help her out instead."

"Uh..." Ai glanced at the struggling Sakura before turning to Junko with a pleading look.

"No." Junko shook her head. "Leave me out of this one."

"...fine..." Ai walked over to the pair. "Come on, Tae-chan, let's get you out of this sweater..."

"Anyway, I've never been to one of these springs before," Lily admitted.

Yugiri turned to look at her. "Never? I know your life was short, but not once?"

"I was born in America. There's not really this sort of thing there... the closest thing is a water park, and, um, nobody was _completely_ naked there." Lily rubbed her arm, awkwardly glancing away. "Daddy always promised to take me and Mom to a hot spring one day..."

Junko took in her expression. She sighed, shutting her eyes for a moment or two, before stepping forward with a gentle smile. "Well... we're here to help out, alright?"

"Yeah, come on in shrimpy." Saki waved a hand casually. "Water's great. Right, Tae?"

"Mmmrrbbbrle," said the head floating by.

"Um, could you grab that?" Sakura requested. "I dropped it while--"

Yugiri picked up the head and placed it on a rock next to her, not bothering to drag the large amount of black hair out of the water.

"Thank you..." Sakura shrugged, turning back to the headless body with a sigh. "Okay... so now we take the skirt off..."

"Soooo... where is the soap?" Lily asked. "I mean, if it's a bathhouse--"

"It's not like that," Junko explained gently. "We just soak in the water. Usually, we'd wash ourselves off in the showers first, but... they're turned off this late at night."

"Oh. Why'd we have to come out this late, anyway?"

"We're zombies. People..." The stitched-up girl took a moment to compose herself. "People would... react poorly to us without our makeup. And... since our makeup washes away in water..."

She trailed off.

"...oh." Lily sighed. "Right. That makes sense, I guess."

"Ugh, we came here to relax, not be downers," Saki grumbled. "Look, shrimpy, life sucks sometimes. That's why you take control of what you can and enjoy yourself whenever you can. Stop worrying about everything and just... kick your legs in the water, if you don't want to get in."

Yugiri rolled her shoulders, idly moving Tae's floating hair aside. "You speak of relaxation, and yet you have yet to remove your sarashi."

"My...?" Saki glanced down at herself for a moment. "Oh, I'm not taking that off."

"May I ask why not?"

"Same reason I'm not taking off the bandages on my leg. Nobody wants to see..."

Saki frowned, realizing that the room had suddenly gotten very quiet. She looked at Yugiri, whose expression was concerned. Then she looked over at Ai and Sakura, who had paused in their assisting the headless body of Tae into the water to stare at her. Twisting her neck around, she caught sight of Junko and Lily giving her a worried look.

"...are you actually all serious right now? It's nothing to worry about!"

Sakura swallowed. "...Saki-chan..."

"...Fine, you want to know what happened? Fine." Saki threw up her hands. "I was riding my bike, coming up on an intersection, I saw another car coming along. And you know, I led a biker gang--and part of that is showing that I was not somebody to mess with. I'd done this hundreds of times before, revved up and shot across, because I knew the locals were so scared of me they'd slow down. Except this time..."

She shrugged. "I don't know. Out of towner? Didn't recognize me? In a rush, maybe didn't see me, I don't know. Point is, we hit each other going way over the speed limit. I was sent flying, parts of the car were sent flying... and midair, I don't know what it was, maybe it was the hood of the car, a huge sheet of metal comes along." Her hand drew across her chest. "Schliiiiiick. One second I'm a little bigger then Sakura, the next my boobs are a foot away and there's blood everywhere."

Saki's eyes fell. "I remember there being a moment, through the pain, when I thought 'oh. This is how I die.' And then... well, and then the rest of the accident happened, I was in agony, blacked out, and I woke up with everyone screaming at Tae over there. So... yeah, I don't think anybody wants to see a pair of gaping holes."

For a moment, the only sound was Tae's grunting as her head attempted to reach a particularly interesting rock.

"...Saki-chan? I'm going to hug you."

Saki snorted. "I don't need a hug, Sakura."

Sakura slipped into the water. "No, but _I_ need to hug you."

"Ugh... fine." Saki rose her arms obligingly, grunting when Sakura wrapped her own limbs around her. "Anybody else want to say something? Anything at all?"

"You have carried yourself well for somebody who experienced such an extreme and abrupt event." Yugiri's hand brushed gently against the red stitches around her neck. "I do not know if I would have been so composed were my death so unexpected."

"Yeah? What happened to you?"

"Nothing very surprising. I was in the service of one particular courtier and another decided to take his power. When I refused to deny my loyalty, I was beheaded." She shook her head with a sigh. "It was not unheard of, but it was becoming less and less common in those days. I thought I would be safe..."

"Wow. Harsh. But you stuck to your guns." Saki held out her fist to her. "You've got my respect."

Yugiri looked at the fist for a moment. "...ah..."

"Fist bump," the girl explained. "It's what friends do."

"Ah." Yugiri curled her own hand into a fist, tapping it against Saki's. "Well, thank you."

Junko sat down next to the pool, kicking her legs in the water. "At least you _know_ how you died," she said somberly, staring at her legs in the water. "I... I don't know what happened to me."

"...I do."

The stitched-up girl blinked, looking over to Ai. "You do?"

"Yes. It's..." Ai glanced away for a moment, absently letting Tae's body drift beneath the water. "...it's a cautionary tale my old producer told us. My old idol group, I mean. It... isn't pretty."

"Hey, I got my boobs sliced off in a car crash," Saki pointed out. "And we're all zombies."

"...I'm not going to say anything unless Junko-chan wants me to."

Junko frowned, looking through the ripples at the patchwork of skin on her legs. "...I... I want to know. And, well... we're all zombies anyway. This... I think I can live with this being shared, between us."

Ai sighed. "...Apparently, there was... a madman. He had a medical degree, sure, but I don't want to call him a doctor. He was... obsessed with beauty, with perfection. He'd take visions of purity and... try to cover their 'imperfections' with skin from the others. You weren't the first girl he kidnapped for experiments, but you were the most famous one--the one that actually finally led the police to finding him."

"...oh."

"My producer always said not to take gifts from fans--well, gifts that hadn't been run through security. 'If a cute boy gives you a cupcake, it could be filled with drugs and you'll end up like poor Konno Junko.' So... at the very least, your death stopped one madman and kept many idols from suffering what you did."

Junko nodded, rubbing her arm. "I... suppose. you're right..." She shut her eyes. "But... how much of my skin is _mine_ , then? How much of this was stolen from..." A shudder went through her body. "Can zombies throw up? I, I feel like I'm going to be sick."

"I can go find a bucket," Sakura offered, pulling herself out of the pool. "I think I saw one over by the rack, hold on."

"Well, I'm pretty sure I can't be throw up anymore," Lily mused. "I'm missing a lot of the parts that you need for that."

Saki turned her eyes on her curiously. "What do you mean?"

Lily pressed the left side of her shirt in, far further then it should have gone. "You see how my heart is... twisted out of position? It's not the only part. I've actually got a huge chunk of my left side missing."

"Damn... how'd _that_ happen?"

"Well, I'm not _completely_ sure--it was so sudden and I blacked out almost instantly--but I _think_ I was hit by a wrecking ball."

"A wrecking ball? What makes you think that?"

"Well, I was walking by a demolition site," Lily explained. "I stopped to look at some of the vehicles and then--wham, bam, suddenly I wake up and Tae's trying to eat Junko."

Tae fell onto her cheek. "Grrrrm?"

"Nah, it's fine Tae-chan. I'm not scared of you anymore."

"I am," Junko mumbled, sidling away from the head.

"You seem fairly comfortable with your death," Yugiri noted.

"Well... yeah, I mean it came out of nowhere. I was killed pretty instantly and... well, after I woke up there was everything with Kotaro-san and, well..." She shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe if I'd had time to be scared I'd be more upset about it, but... honestly, I'm more worried about whatever my parents went through. It had to be hard on them..."

"I can understand that," Ai said quietly. "I can't help but wonder what happened to Iron Frill..."

"I've got the bucket! Sakura announced, returning with the object in hand. "Here you go, Junko-Chan."

"...thank you." Junko took the container, holding it quietly on her lap.

Saki cleared her throat. "So, Ai. We've heard how everybody else died. You got a story?"

Ai frowned, sitting down next to the pool quietly. She rubbed her shoulders, not looking at any of them.

"...there was... a fire."

"...that's it?"

"Saki-chan!" Sakura rebuked. "Just because you're okay sharing how you died doesn't mean you can't expect Ai-chan to be comfortable with it!"

Saki clicked her tongue, rolling her eyes. "Whatever. If she's not going to share, we can't help her, that's all."

Ai sighed. "...there was a fire. I... don't know how it started. Me and the others, we were... running down the hall and... something fell. A girder, I guess, it was on fire, and it was between us and the door and..." She clenched her eyes shut. "We were all terrified. We all knew that the only way out was to pick the thing up and hold it. I didn't know how long it would take the firemen to get there, but it would be too late. But I was the lead singer. I was responsible for all of them. I told the others to get through as fast as they could, that if I couldn't make it they should tell the firemen where I..."

She took a steadying breath of air.

"...I held it just long enough for them all to get through, but by that point I was... completely on fire. I remember fading in and out of consciousness. I think one of them, I'm not sure which one, told me to hold on... I know I saw my skin before I had these bandages, and it was horrifying. I'm pretty sure I woke up in a hospital once or twice, I don't know if it was the same one... the doctors might have said I wouldn't make it. I think my old group came to visit me, the last time I was awake... I may have told them to keep the dream going without me, I don't know... it's all so vague and muddled." She sighed. "And then I woke up and saw Tae leaning over Junko, and... well. Here I am, I guess."

Sakura knelt down next to her, clasping her hand gently. "I... I am so sorry you had to go through that..."

"It is quite a solemn realization, knowing that death does not always come swiftly... that some should have to suffer." Yugiri lowered her gaze. "That your loyalty and sacrifice was rewarded with protracted pain... You have my deepest sympathies as well."

"Yeah..." Saki nodded. "That... really sucks, Ai. But you know what, you got them out. That's something you should be proud of."

"It's been ten years for you, I think..." Junko nodded to herself. "You could look them up, if you wanted. Maybe they've become successful."

"...I don't think they'd want to talk to me," Ai mumbled. "Not after... not like this."

"Yeah, I can get that," Lily said with a sigh. "I mean, I don't really want to go running back to my parents either. But you've got us now! Right everyone?"

"We've got your back," Saki confirmed.

"It would be the height of dishonor to leave you unsupported," Yugiri agreed.

Junko nodded firmly. "Not even Tae could scare me off."

"Raaaaaaa!" Tae cried, her hand reaching out of the pool and scrabbling at her hair.

Sakura wrapped an arm around her. "We're all here for you."

Ai managed a small smile. "...Thank you. I... I'm sorry I've been so abrasive. I'll try to be better about it from now on."

"Hey, we put on makeup for the _fans_ ," Saki pointed out. "When it's just us, you be you."

Ai nodded. "Alright."

"...Hey Sakura!" Saki turned her eyes on the girl. "You wanna share your death story?"

Sakura sighed. "I told you before, I don't remember anything from before I died."

"Fine. What about you, Tae, you got a big story?"

Tae turned her eyes toward Saki. "Rrrrrrr?" Her hand finally clamped on an ear and dragged the head underwater.

"Oh no!" Sakura released Ai, stepping back into the pool. "Tae-chan, this is a hot spring! It's not for swimming!"


End file.
